What Are Wonder Woman’s Powers in the New DC Universe Movie?

Wonder Woman can do a lot of amazing things in her new film — here’s a rundown of exactly what comic books’ most famous heroine is capable of.

Throughout the course of “Wonder Woman,” the audience goes on a journey with Diana — that’s Wonder Woman’s real name — as she more or less discovers that she is, in fact, a superhero. For most of her life as we see it in the film, Diana knows she’s an Amazon warrior. But as we saw from her appearance in “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice,” she’s obviously more than even her Amazonian comrades.

But in “Wonder Woman,” Diana’s exact powers aren’t clear, even to her. And through years of comics, Wonder Woman’s abilities have changed drastically quite a few times. So what can the movie version of Wonder Woman do, and how does it compare to the comics?

First up, as seen in “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice,” Wonder Woman possesses super strength, super speed and extreme durability. Diana figures this out slowly and basically through the heat of battle. Her reflexes are so fast, she can block bullets with her gauntlets, and she repeatedly rips through large groups of bad dudes at extreme paces. In “Wonder Woman,” we also see her pick up a truck with one hand and lift a tank over her head.

There’s also some indication that while Wonder Woman can be hurt, she also has a Wolverine-like healing factor. She suffers a cut during one battle, but it’s healed up within hours. When she fought Doomsday in “Batman v. Superman,” she got chucked around pretty hard in a massive superhero battle, as well. In other words, Wonder Woman is exceedingly tough to kill. She can move fast enough to deflect bullets, but it’s not entirely clear she really needs to — or at least, she might not need to block all of them.

And she seems to have some ability to release gigantic blasts of energy under extreme circumstances, but the movie doesn’t really explain that part.

Many of Wonder Woman’s other abilities arise from her Amazonian training. She can speak lots of languages — maybe all human languages, in fact — and is an incredible fighter like the rest of the Amazons. Her equipment comes from her Amazonian heritage as well, adding to her abilities. There’s the Lasso of Hestia, which compels anyone tied by it to tell the truth, and is also a formidable (and apparently indestructible) weapon in its own right. Diana also wears the Bracelets of Submission, a pair of indestructible gauntlets that, in the comics, are given to each Amazonian when she comes of age.

Notably missing from her gear is the famed invisible jet, but then again, jets hadn’t been invented yet during World War I.

Various versions of Wonder Woman have had the ability of flight, much like Superman, but it seems the film version lacks that power. In “Wonder Woman,” Diana can jump to ridiculous heights, though. She’s also previously had a variety of mental and telepathic abilities in the past, and additions like super breath. Those older capabilities haven’t made it into the new movie though — instead, most of Wonder Woman’s abilities have to do with what an awesome fighter she is.

We still don’t know a ton about what Wonder Woman is capable of, though, since so much of “Wonder Woman” has to do with Diana discovering who she is and what she’s capable of accomplishing. It seems fully possible more powers — and one invisible jet — could pop up in future movies.

Every DC Comics Movie Ranked From Worst to Best, Including 'Justice League'

The DC Comics universe hasn't flooded the big screen quite the way Marvel ones have, but the DC brand has been hitting the big screen longer in the modern era. We ranked all those modern flicks, from "Superman: The Movie" to "Wonder Woman" and "Justice League."

Christopher Reeve is by far the best Superman. But "Superman IV" is a bomb in every sense -- partly because of its heavy-handedness about bombs. Nuclear bombs. The film finds Superman trying to eliminate the world's nuclear threat, but his best intentions run afoul of a silly, badly dated villain named Nuclear Man.

30. "Supergirl" (1984)

We had a female-superhero movie in 1984, and it was pure cheese. But hey, at least they tried. The best thing I can say about it is there are worse things in life than this movie.

29. "Suicide Squad" (2016)

Less a movie than it is a fever dream of unrelated sequences and montages that somehow end up using more than two hours of your time. Totally incomprehensible experience.

Best known as "the one Shaq was in back when he tried acting," "Steel" is pretty bad. But the fun kind of bad.

27. "Justice League"

Warner Bros has continued to innovate in how to make bad DCEU movies, with "Justice League" managing to be terrible in a totally different way from "Batman v Superman" and "Suicide Squad."

26. "Man of Steel" (2013)

Could have been worse, I guess. But it's still morally gross and has a plot that doesn't make sense. That it's very pretty to look at doesn't override those things nearly enough to make it watchable.

25. "Catwoman" (2004)

Thoroughly horrible, but somehow amusing even so. Sad that it's seemingly been swept into the litter box of history.

24. "Batman & Robin" (1997)

Rightly hated, but it's tremendously entertaining here and there. Uma Thurman and Arnold Schwarzeneggar are going so far over the top I can't help but admire them.

23. "Superman III" (1983)

Featured a brilliant corporate rip-off -- one later referenced in "Office Space" -- but the attempt to funny things up with the addition of Richard Pryor didn't gel. There was also a weird bit about a weather satellite creating bad weather, which isn't what weather satellites do. Seeing Clark Kent fight Superman was pretty cool, though.

22. "Green Lantern" (2011)

Overreliance on cartoony visual effects during a period when big blockbusters were moving away from that aesthetic meant this was a movie nobody liked. Not that it was especially horrible. It just looked like a dumb cartoon and is hard to watch.

21. "The Dark Knight Rises" (2012)

Probably wasn't intended to be a grim and gritty Shumacher Batmovie, but that is indeed what it is. This is Nolan going full Hollywood, smashing plot points into place by sheer force of will rather than because they make sense. An extremely theatrical Tom Hardy as Bane is amusing front to back, and a nuke with a countdown clock on it will never get old.

20. "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" (2016)

A total mess that hates Superman and turns Batman into a total maniac. None of those things are good. Ben Affleck can't save the thing, but he's excellent nonetheless and gives it a huge bump it probably doesn't deserve.

19. "Watchmen" (2009)

I have no particular affection for the revered "Watchmen" comic the way a lot of other nerds do, so my distaste for this adaptation isn't personal. It just doesn't add up to nearly as much as it thinks it does.

18. "Batman" (1989)

Fondly remembered mostly because it was the first Batmovie in a couple decades. It isn't actually very good, though. The reveal that a younger version of the Joker killed Bruce Wayne's parents is as hamfistedly dumb as it gets in a "Batman" movie.

Giving this its own slot because it fundamentally changes the narrative of the movie and the character of Superman in the DC Extended Universe. This version is still not great (especially at three freaking hours), but it's a monumental improvement over the theatrical version.

14. "Red 2" (2013)

Did you even know these were comic book movies? Whatever, it's a great cast in a serviceable action movie and everybody's having a good time. Hard to remember, but fun.

13. "Red" (2010)

Better than its sequel, but they're basically the same.

12. "The Dark Knight" (2008)

Should be way shorter, but Heath Ledger's Joker is far and away the best villain in any of these movies. Ledger elevates what would otherwise be just another self-indulgent Christopher Nolan exercise into an endlessly watchable picture.

11. "Batman Forever" (1995)

Hits just the right tone for what Joel Shumacher was trying to do with the two films he directed. Tommy Lee Jones, as Two Face, is doing stuff in this movie that is hard to believe even today, given his perpetual sour face in nearly every other movie he's been in.

10. "Superman Returns" (2006)

Actually a pretty decent attempt by Bryan Singer to do a Christopher Reeve "Superman" movie in the present day, but Brandon Routh couldn't pull off the charisma it takes to be the Man of Steel. It was his first movie, so that's not surprising. But it's a shame, because Routh has gotten much better in the years since.

9. "Batman: Mask of the Phantasm" (1993)

Remember that time they released a "Batman" cartoon theatrically? It gets lost amongst all the live-action ones, but "Mask of the Phantasm" is better than most of them.

8. "The LEGO Batman Movie" (2017)

Funny, sweet and self-deprecating -- exactly what we needed in the wake of the disaster that was "Batman v Superman."

7. "Superman II" (1980)

Made kids everywhere cry as they watched Superman give up his powers for a normal life with Lois Lane (Margot Kidder). There are different edits of this movie, and we frankly can't keep them straight. But the sight of a powerless Clark getting beat up in a diner made Superman as sympathetic as he's ever been.

6. "Wonder Woman" (2017)

Has the standard origin movie problem of "too much story, not enough time." And the standard DC Extended Universe problem of "We gotta have a nonsensical CGI battle at the end." But despite those caveats it's an enormous delight, and a big step forward for the DCEU.

5. "Batman Returns" (1992)

One of the best of the franchise because it's really just a political thriller. The Penguin emerges from the sewer and runs for mayor of Gotham! It's great stuff, especially as we continue to watch the rise of Trump in our world.

4. "Constantine" (2005)

A happy balance of serious and ridiculous, manages to find exactly the right tone for this weird religious fantasy and a cast led by Keanu Reeves. They all seem to get it.

3. "Superman: The Movie" (1978)

This is the gold standard of Superman movies, and was the best superhero movie bar none for many, many years. John Williams' score soars, and so does the believable and compelling romance between Superman and Lois Lane. The film convincingly blended camp (in the form of Gene Hackman's wonderful Lex Luthor), an epic origin story that actually felt epic, and funny lines. The scene in which Supes and Lois fly together is one of the most beautiful metaphors for new love ever captured on film.

2. "Batman: The Movie" (1966)

Has a timelessness that none of the other films do, and it's just a delight from beginning to end thanks to Adam West's winking Batman and the coalition of villains who can't stop cackling maniacally. Watching it again recently, I found it functions almost perfectly as a parody of the super-serious Christopher Nolan Batfilms, which is incredible.

1. "Batman Begins" (2005)

The most complete film, on its own, in the entire live-action franchise. It's just, like, a regular movie... except it's about Batman. It has actual characters and everything, and Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne even has emotions. It's weird.

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How does the blockbuster superhero team-up “Justice League” fare in our rankings?

The DC Comics universe hasn't flooded the big screen quite the way Marvel ones have, but the DC brand has been hitting the big screen longer in the modern era. We ranked all those modern flicks, from "Superman: The Movie" to "Wonder Woman" and "Justice League."